Fishing In February Help!

[BassKing17]

Hey guys,

I am fishing a little tournament my friends threw together for tommorrow morning.

 

I am in south texas (houston area)

I actuallly live on the lake we are fishing.

the lake is 80 acres it used to be a sand pit until they hit a natural spring and it filled up.

The lake is 40 feet at the deepest point.

Water clarity is about 4 feet visiblilty 

it has little vegitation

the back side of the lake has alot of stumps and rocks and flooded like timber.

Some of the timber is in 5 feet of water right next to a drop off down to 20+ feet

The forage in this lake is mainly shad.

 

I also have a spot where its an underwater hump. The top of the hump is about 8 feet below the surface and slopes off immediatly to 26+ feet. I have dumped a ton of christmas trees on top of the hump about (20) a few years back. I have caught an 8.5lber off the hump in October,

 

Well, Its february and the temperatures here have been awfully warm 75 degrees or more during mid day since christmas.

Do you think the fish in the lake are in pre spawn? What should I be using and what kind of structure should i be looking for?

Normally the temperatures up until now are cold ( 40 degrees) but its been pretty warm. Only getting into the upper 50's at night.

 

The tournament is a 5 fish limit most total wieght wins. This lake has always produced small bass in numbers with bleeding rattle trap.

I was thinking first thing in the morning hit the flooded timber in 5 feet of water with a dark jig or plastic lizard or grub.

 

Thought?

Questions?

 

Thanks,

Zack

 

[BassKing17]

Oh and should I throw a top water frog over some submerged rock piles? the rocks and rebar are about 2 feet below the surface.

[Teal]

First thing you need to know is, what is the water temp?

[Sam]

First thing you need to know is, what is the water temp?

 

X2.

 

Suggestions without knowing water temperature:

1. Flat sided lipped crankbaits.

2. Chrome with blue or black back Rat-L-Trap type lipless crankbait.

3. Jig and pig - orange and brown colors

4. Carolina rigged plastic

5. Any wind or chop on top of water throw a spinnerbait - white; yellow and white; yellow

6. Drop shot into any cover or structure you can find.

7. Topwater of your choice but don't expect any bites until the water warms up a few degrees

 

Throw jigs and Carolina rig over and around the hump.

 

I will PM another suggestion to you.

 

Good luck.

[BassKing17]

First thing you need to know is, what is the water temp?

The temperature is 56 degrees F

[BassKing17]

X2.

 

Suggestions without knowing water temperature:

1. Flat sided lipped crankbaits.

2. Chrome with blue or black back Rat-L-Trap type lipless crankbait.

3. Jig and pig - orange and brown colors

4. Carolina rigged plastic

5. Any wind or chop on top of water throw a spinnerbait - white; yellow and white; yellow

6. Drop shot into any cover or structure you can find.

7. Topwater of your choice but don't expect any bites until the water warms up a few degrees

 

Throw jigs and Carolina rig over and around the hump.

 

I will PM another suggestion to you.

 

Good luck.

 

Thank you for the help!!

I got your message, That sounds interesting!

I will have to tie that onto one of my setups.

Thanks!

[Shoop05]

Thank you for the help!!

I got your message, That sounds interesting!

I will have to tie that onto one of my setups.

Thanks!

So..... how'd it go???

[tbone1993]

These post really make me laugh. Not because you need help but because fishing in february up north is such much different than down south. I would love to have 50+ water temps right about now. Even power plant lakes are tough this time of year. Have fun man you should have a good time. 

[Toeshots]

This^^^^

I'm happy just to SEE a patch of open water right now. If I get to fish it, it's not productive, although my first and only bass of the year is the 19" in my picture. Don't have a single bite this year besides that fish.

[aharris]

56 degree water temp, I hope you stayed shallow! How'd you do?

[BassKing17]

                            

Well my buddy and I placed 1st in the little tourny!

 

I started with a Zoom 6" watermelon seed lizard Texas rigged and right off the bat caught the 1st fish in 3 feet of water around structure. 

 

Then my partner landed one with a white/grey spnner bait in 5 feet of water. ( the wind was gusting 15mph )

 

After the first two fish we were not having much luck.

 

I decided to try out the carolina rig, I threw it around structure in 3-5 feet of water and in deep 15-20 feet.

 

I didnt have and luck with it. After an hour I switched to a Zoom
finesse worm black red flake and caught one in 2 feet of water almost
instantly. ( Same worm I caught the fish in my avatar & same lake)

 

My partner also caught another one on the same shallow structure with
his spinner bait the next cast. One of the other teams also pulled one
out of the same 2 feet of water only a couple minutes later.

 

At that point we were on the windy side of the lake because we had
already covered most of the lake besides the boat docks and piers.

 

We traveled back to the protected side of the lake and started all over but with a new approach.

 

We got back to the same location where I caught the first bass of the day on the lizard. 

 

I tied on a 3-4 foot diving crankbait, the first cast I caught one as
I was going to pull the lure out of the water like as if he followed my
lure before striking.

 

So then we tried all the ledges that are located next to the shallows
where we caught fish, we tried them with crankbaits and no luck.

 

It was a 5 fish limit and we just caught 5... all keepers.

None of the other teams filled their limit.

 

Our total wieght was EMBARRASSING at 6lbs but it still won it for us on a bad day!

 

Dont know what we could have done better to catch fish with more
size, Ive caught plenty of big bass out of that lake but NEVER before
the water was in the upper 60's

 

Zack

                            
                       

[tbone1993]

This^^^^

I'm happy just to SEE a patch of open water right now. If I get to fish it, it's not productive, although my first and only bass of the year is the 19" in my picture. Don't have a single bite this year besides that fish.

I havent found water anywhere near me except power plant lakes. Most guys have their boats in storage until tournaments start next week.

[buckeye12]

Congrats on the win! You needed five and you got em! Good job!